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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25861540">The darkest days</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladybirdwrites/pseuds/ladybirdwrites'>ladybirdwrites</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Multi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:15:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,462</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25861540</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladybirdwrites/pseuds/ladybirdwrites</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Severus Snape wasn't always evil. Once upon a time, he was just a boy, in love with a girl. But things changed over the years and so did Snape. But in death, Severus Snape is finally ready to tell his story.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Severus Snape&amp;Lily Evans Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. How it all began</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Every story has a beginning. And an ending. But a story also has a turning point. You know, that one point where the story completely switches directions and goes a totally different way than you first expected. This story has a point like that too. But in order to understand that switching point, you need to understand the beginning of the story. The story of SEVERUS SNAPE to be exact. It’s a complicated one, , but in the end, you’ll all understand.</p>
<p>You see, you wouldn’t understand the turning point in his story if you hadn’t heard it from the beginning. It is that complicated. Even in death, Severus Snape still feels misunderstood, so maybe if he explains to you what happened from the beginning onwards, you’ll understand. And maybe, just maybe, he will find the peace he has been so desperately looking for.</p>
<p>This story begins many years before it’s turning point, when Snape was still a child. Not even in school yet. Oh well, that’s not entirely true, he was in <em>muggle-</em>school. Nearby him lived a girl, with her sister, and this girl will play an important role in the story too. Her name was Lily. Lily Evans. And the story of Severus Snape started when he was nine years old, on the day he met Lily Evans…</p>
<hr/>
<p>His parents are screaming at each other again. He tries to cover his ears, in a desperate attempt to block out their voices, but he can still hear them. He cringes as his father once again throws something at his mother, hitting her. She starts crying. She can easily take his father on if she wanted, she is a wizard after all, but his mom had vowed never to hurt their family with her magic on the day she married his father.</p>
<p>She was so proud of him when he started to show signs of being a wizard. Severus had never seen her as happy as the first time he screwed something up because he subconsciously used his magic. His father, on the other hand, was not happy with Severus being a wizard.</p>
<p>Severus leaves the house to go to the meadow. There’s a dirty river located in the meadow, near his house. It’s his absolute favorite place. Well hidden from the teary eyes of his mom and the many beatings from his dad. His safe place. he wishes he could take on his mother’s last name. Prince. Than he’d be the half-blood prince. He thinks that it sounds cool.</p>
<p>Severus arrives at his spot, but someone is already there. He stops in his tracks and looks at the person who had discovered his sacred place. A girl, with the most beautiful red hair he has ever seen. He wonders who she is, not ready to approach her. She’s so… Vibrant. She seems so happy and alive. Sometimes he wishes he could be like that too. He smiles to himself and continues looking at her.</p>
<p>Suddenly, the girl pops out a bit of magic. She’s also a wizard? There’s another one around? She seems surprised, but not panicked. More like fascinated with this phenomenon.</p>
<p>“Petunia! Petunia!” The girl yells. “You need to come now! I can do something super cool!”</p>
<p>“What is it, Lily? Is it another one of your lame tricks?” A brown-haired girl appears from farther into the meadow, looking a bit annoyed. Petunia.</p>
<p>“No, Petunia, I promise, you’re going to want to see this!”</p>
<p>Petunia is now looking at Lily with genuine curiosity. Lily repeats the little trick she had done just moments ago, still looking as proud and surprised as the first time. Petunia’s eyes grow wide. Severus smiles. He had the same reaction just moments ago when he first saw the little trick himself. If this is only her second time using magic, than Lily is a very talented witch.</p>
<p>“H-How did you do that?” Petunia asks, not being able to hide her impressed look. “That’s so cool! Can you teach me as well?”</p>
<p>“Well… I don’t really know how I did it. But I mean I can tell you what I felt.” Lily shrugs, with her sister looking at her with a questionable look. Lily turns around, now facing the spot where he’s hiding. Severus barely has enough time to dive to the ground to prevent the two girls from noticing him. He doesn’t feel quite ready to make his presence known yet.</p>
<p>It doesn’t appear Lily or Petunia saw him, as the two girls leave the river behind, loudly chatting about Lily’s magic trick. He smiles. Unless Petunia is also a wizard, which doesn’t appears to be the case, considering Petunia looks older than Lily and clearly has never seen magic, she won’t be able to perform that trick. It’s magic after all.</p>
<p>Severus realizes that it’s probably time to go home. Time always flies near the river. If his father noticed him being gone, he’ll surely get a beating for sneaking out, the longer he’s gone, the longer the beating, so Severus turns around and starts walking towards his house once again.</p>
<p>His parents are still yelling at each other when he returns. It doesn’t seem like they noticed that he was gone for a while, so he slips past them with a glass of milk in his hand, going upstairs to his room. His sweater, which is ill-fitted, like all of his clothes, is falling of his shoulder and Severus makes a weird, snake-like movement to try to keep it on. It falls of anyways. Why does he still try?</p>
<p>The shouting continues for hours. There’s no dinner. This isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last. He’s used to being hungry, so it doesn’t really matter. Besides, nothing could beat the feeling of discovering another wizard in this little, muggle-town. Maybe Severus Snape would finally be able to find a little bit of happiness in this dark, dark world.</p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. the miracle named Lily Evans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you enjoy! Thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For days, Severus watched the two sisters play at the river, slowly building up the courage to approach them and talk with them. Every time he thought he was ready, something came up and he chickened out. But every time Severus didn’t approach the sister, was a time filled with regret. Happiness was shining of the two and he wanted to be a part of that.</p><p>But today is different. Happiness isn’t shining off the sisters anymore. Lily and Petunia have a fight, as Petunia is unable to perform the trick Lily had done just a few days earlier. Petunia is growing frustrated, accusing her sister of many unpretty things and calling her names. At that moment, the two of them remind Severus of his own parents. It doesn’t help that Lily, who is unable to figure out why Petunia was unable to perform the trick, while she was able to do it, can’t give her sister an explanation for the phenomenon. Petunia storms off, leaving Lily behind, upset to see her sister go and at the verge of breaking out into tears. Severus takes a deep breath, mentally preparing to finally take the step he has been longing to take since the day he had first seen the girls. Lily, who is alone for the first time, doesn’t seem as scary anymore. Finally, Severus leaves his hiding place, walking towards Lily.</p><p>“H-hello?” Lily turns around, surprised by the sound of his voice. Her eyes soften at the sight of him, and a wave of relief comes over Severus. She appears to be quite nice. “Can I come keep you company?” He asks, with a soft voice. A smile breaks through on Lily’s face and she pats the ground next to her, inviting him to sit. Severus answers her smile and quickly sits down next to her.</p><p>He extends his hand. “I’m Severus. Severus Snape.” Lily grabs his hand and shakes it. Her hand is soft and tinier than his. He thinks it’s a nice feeling.</p><p>“I’m Lily” she answers. “Lily Evans.” She smiles at him, still holding on to his hand. Severus can feel his face heat up, so he quickly blurts out what he wanted to tell her ever since the day he first saw her: “You’re sister will never be able to do that trick.” He quickly shuts his mouth, realizing he just gave away the fact that he had been spying on the two girls. Lily just pulls up one of her eyebrows in a questioning look, not judging him for his stalking, instead inviting him to continue his explanation.</p><p>“It’s because you’re a witch. That trick you did? It was magic.”</p><p>“Is that a joke? Things like wizards don’t exist.” She sounds skeptical, but she isn’t able to hide the twinkle in her eyes. Lily wants his statement to be true, he could feel it.</p><p>“No. I’m sure. You see I’m one too. A wizard.” Lily’s eyes grow wide in excitement after hearing this statement. She can’t believe that there is someone else like her. After all, she isn’t a freak, instead being one of many wizards and witches. Being a part of something bigger than just herself, instead of being an abnormality.</p><p>“That’s so cool! Can you teach me magic?” She sounds so excited and Severus actually feels bad that he has to tell her they aren’t allowed to use magic outside Hogwarts. She’s disappointed, but it immediately disappears at the mention of the school of Witchcraft.</p><p>“What is Hogwarts?” Lily asks, bringing her face closer to his, her eyes filled with excitement and curiosity, clearly visible in her green eyes. Her eyes are the prettiest once’s Severus has seen in his short life. They’re vibrant, just like her.</p><p>“Hogwarts is the school of witchcraft and wizardry. It’s located somewhere in Scotland. It’s basically a giant magical castle and during your seven years of schooling at Hogwarts, starting at age eleven, you’ll learn everything you need to know about magic!” Severus is feeding off Lily’s excitement and his voice sounds higher and higher with every word.</p><p>“Woah! That’s so cool!” Severus feels a smile appearing on his face, just seeing the twinkle in her eyes, something that hadn’t happened in a long time. He notes how good it feels to smile again. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to approach this girl after all. “What kind of lessons are their?”</p><p>“Oh… So many… You have courses that you have to take such as charms and potions and transfigurations… And then you have a couple classes that are more like extracurricular. You have to choose a couple of them, while not doing the others.” Lily is looking at him with a bit of a confused look on her face. Meanwhile, Severus is desperately looking for an example of one of the classes you’re were not forced to take, so it would be easier to explain all of this to his new friend, but he can’t think of one in the moment.</p><p>“It doesn’t matter” he says, making a wave-like movement with his hand. “Those aren’t the most important classes anyways… Oh! There’s also quidditch!”</p><p>“Quidditch?”</p><p>“Yes! It’s super cool. There are two teams with seven players each: one seeker, three chasers, one keeper and two beaters. The goal of the game is to score as many points as possible. You can score points in two ways.” Severus holds up two fingers and looks at Lily, who is listening to his every word with the fascination of a much younger child. “The first way is for the chaser to put the quaffle, which is a sort of ball, through the goal hoops, which are guarded by the keeper of the other team. You still following?” Lily nods, looking impatient and urging him to continue explaining quidditch to her. “Okay. The second way to score points is by catching the snitch. The snitch is a tiny gold ball and catching it will not only award the team that caught it 150 points, but will also end the match immediately. The match cannot be ended before the snitch is caught. Catching the snitch is the job of the seeker.”</p><p>“And what about the beaters?” Lily asks while he is taking a quick break to catch his breath. Severus smiles. It is nice to know someone is attentively listening to him and looking at him with some sort of fascination. He finally feels like he means something.</p><p>“The job of the two beaters is very simple: prevent the other team from scoring points and protect their own team’s chasers and seeker.” Lily’s mouth makes an O-shape, as she fully understands Severus’ explanation. She seems eager to know more about Hogwarts and the wizarding world in general and Severus isn’t ready to go home just yet, so he asks her what else she wants to know.</p><p>“How does Hogwarts work? Like do you go home after a school day? Stay there? How do you get there?” Lily barrages him with question, looking more and more excited after each left her mouth, but not leaving him any room to answer them. He feels his smile grow wider and wider with each question. When she finally stops rambling, he carefully answers everything she had asked: “You stay in Hogwarts during the school year, in one of the dorms of the four houses of Hogwarts: Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. During the holidays, as well as during summer, you can go home to your family. At the beginning of your first year, you’re sorted into your house. You can partake in quidditch for your house and compete for the house cup.  The house cup goes to the house with the most points. Points are awarded to students with good behavior and are subtracted. At the end of the year, the feast to celebrate the end of another schoolyear is themed in that year’s winner of the house cup. You go to Hogwarts by train, which departs from platform 9<sup>3/4 </sup> in London’s station, which you enter through a magic wall between platforms nine and ten.”</p><p>“Oh, I get it! That is so cool! Say, Severus, when we go to Hogwarts, you’ll be my friend, right? You’ll sit by me in the train and help me, right?” For the first time in their entire conversation, Lily sounds insecure. She has no reason to, Severus was not about to give up on her after just discovering the joy of being in her presence, but he feels warm inside knowing the girl wants to be around him just as much as he wants to be around her.</p><p>“Of course” he simply answers. A smile breaks through on Lily’s face. “Even if we’re in different houses?” she asks, wiggling her eyebrows in a funny way. “Always.”</p><hr/><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone! I hope you enjoy this story! Thank you so much for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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